Submission
The Canada Bay Greens has responded to the Government’s revised plan for Rhodes with a submission.
Here is the submission summary:
This submission was in response to the NSW Government’s call for submissions to their revised plan for Rhodes. For details of that plan, go to: https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/Plans-for-your-area/Priority-Growth-Areas-and-Precincts/Rhodes
The NSW government plan for Rhodes offers some interesting and useful features for the community. However, contrary to the government’s mantra of building infrastructure, the plan falls dramatically short in the areas of transport, schools, hospital services and sporting facilities. The enormous population proposed for Rhodes cannot be supported. Much more space is required for other services.
Media release
Our media release also covered similar ground.
Letter to the editor:
Here is the text of Charles Jago’s letter to the editor of the Inner West Courier, published Tuesday 5th February 2019:
Dear editor
Commenting on the revised NSW Government plan for Rhodes released in December, local member John Sidoti was quoted in the Courier that “the Rhodes East precinct will get infrastructure before apartments go in.”
However, the Government proposes a three-quarters increase in dwellings in Rhodes without any substantial improvement in transport infrastructure in the short to medium term. Their plan does not include a strategy to ensure the trains and roads will cope with such a massive increase in the number of people travelling on Concord Road and through Rhodes Station.
During peak hour the trains now run at full capacity, with Concord Road frequently a parking lot. Rhodes is already a transport choke-point with over 12,000 residents today, plus many Wentworth Point residents who come to Rhodes Station across the Bennelong Bridge. The government’s transport initiatives – including Rhodes station upgrades and the proposed ferry wharf – remain inadequate for current needs, let alone a population increase of three-quarters.
The Government’s proposed light rail from Parramatta to Wentworth Point and the Sydney West Metro would still leave Rhodes under pressure; these won’t be completed until 2025 at the earliest. In fact, these projects remain uncertain, with the business cases for both of them still to be released.
The community wants transport solutions. The government’s plan will give them chaos. Let’s have the infrastructure first, then consider growth.
Yours sincerely
Councillor Charles Jago
Deputy Mayor of Canada Bay Council
Greens candidate for the NSW seat of Drummoyne and the Federal seat of Reid